Tag: book 1

Unexpected (Athletic Affairs: Book 1) by April Fire

Unexpected: Secret Baby of a Star Athlete (Hot and Sweaty) by [Fire, April]

4 Stars

Publisher

Date of publication: November 22nd, 2016

Genre: Romance, Erotica

Series: Athletic Affairs

Unexpected—Book 1

Cutting Ice—Book 2 (Review Here)

Hit Hard—Book 3

Knockout—Book 4

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book Synopsis:

A ruined wedding. A star athlete. Paparazzi.
And… a secret baby.

What could go wrong?

Dumped at the altar…
Betrayed by my maid of honor…

Still reeling from the shock of my life, when an old crush sweeps me off my feet and onto the sticky, hard surface of an empty bar counter.

Was I destined to be a single mom, trapped in a small town, or would my well-muscled hero come to my rescue?

My review:

It is the day of Kyra’s wedding and her husband to be, David, has just told her that he couldn’t marry her. After running to her hotel room, in a reasonable state of extreme upsetness, she texts her best friend and maid of honor, Tam.

Tam shows up a few minutes after the text, and before Kyra could start saying “Why did he do this to me,” she reveals that she and David were together, and she was the reason David canceled the wedding, which leaves Kyra in a state of disbelief. So, what does she do, she starts drinking and ignoring everyone who comes to her door except for Jones.

Jones is a football star and happens to be David and Kyra’s friend from high school. He was supposed to be David’s best man but, like everyone, was left stunned when David called the wedding off at last-minute and left with Tam. Jones is concerned for Kyra and suggests that she goes to where the reception was going to be held and have a few drinks.

That ended up with Kyra and Jones having sex on the bar and then moving to her hotel room. He left Kyra in the morning with a note, and she moves on with her life. She has gotten over David and Tam’s betrayal and Jones’s not such a smooth move the morning after.

Then she realizes that she hasn’t had her period and she is always like clockwork. So she goes, buys a pregnancy test, and takes it. Guess what, she’s pregnant, and Jones is the father.

She contacts Jones intending to tell him. Instead, they spend a week screwing each other’s brains out. Then, in a fit of anger, after Jones said to her that he was seeing someone else, she tells him. He doesn’t take the news very well and she heads home intending to be a single mother.

I loved Kyra. I wondered how she didn’t just go nutso on her scumbag ex and her ex-best friend. I really don’t because if it were me, I would have killed them. Well, I wouldn’t have gone that far but I would have at least beaten Tam down. I do think that her sleeping with Jones was part of the shock of what happened, at first. And her reaction when she found out she was pregnant, I think every single woman who has had an unplanned pregnancy can relate.

Jones came across as a tool until the restaurant scene. I thought that he wasn’t going to step up by his reaction when Kyra told him that she was pregnant. But, thinking about it, how would you react if you were told by a girl that you had just spent the week having awesome sex with that she was pregnant because the condom failed.

The sex between Jones and Kyra was off the wall hot. And it seems that Kyra was into having sex in public places.

The end of the book was great. I do love HEA’s .

I would give Unexpected an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Unexpected. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

A Secondhand Life (Killer Thriller: Book 1) by Pamela Crane

A Secondhand Life (The Killer Thriller Series Book 1) by [Crane, Pamela]

4 Stars

Publisher: Tabella House

Date of publication: March 18th, 2018

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense

Series: Killer Thriller

A Secondhand Lie—Book 0.5

A Secondhand Life—Book 1

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

A string of murdered girls. An innocent man behind bars. A serial killer still on the hunt.

In a freak collision when she was twelve, Mia Germaine faced death and the loss of her father. A heart transplant from a young murder victim saved her life, but not without a price. Twenty years later, chilling nightmares about an unresolved homicide begin to plague Mia. Compelled by these lost memories, she forms a complicated connection to the victim–the girl killed the night of Mia’s accident–due to a scientific phenomenon called “organ memory.”

Now suffocating beneath the weight of avenging a dead girl and catching a serial killer on the loose dubbed the “Triangle Terror,” Mia must dodge her own demons while unimaginable truths torment her–along with a killer set on making her his next victim.

As Mia tries to determine if her dreams are clues or disturbing phantasms, uninvited specters lead her further into danger’s path, costing her the one person who can save her from herself.

More than a page-turning thriller, A Secondhand Life weaves a tale of second chances and reclaimed dreams as this taut, refreshing story ensnares and penetrates you.

Readers of Gilly Macmillan and The Woman in the Window will enjoy the provocative prose and unreliable narrator that makes you realize you don’t really know what you thought you did.

My review:

I am going to start this review off with something that I rarely do. I am absolutely in love with the cover. It caught my eye, and I will stare at it. I think because it is so simple (a girl hugging herself in black and white with a black splash of something across her back).

Now that I am done drooling over the cover, let’s get this review going.

Mia grew on me during this book. When I first started reading it, I thought she was a little self-centered, impulsive, and hugely hung up on how her scar looked. But, as the book progressed and the deeper into her search on who killed Alexis, Mia evolved. She became this person who was the opposite of what I said above. At the end of the book, well, let’s say that forgiveness is everything.

The mystery surrounding the killer was great, and the author threw out red herrings left and right. When it was revealed who the killer (and the serial killer) was, I was genuinely shocked and then saddened.

I found organ memory fascinating and plan on doing a little more research on it. Just the thought of an organ retaining memory intrigues me.

The end of the book (and the epilogue) was great and I had tears in my eyes. I do hope that there will be a book 2.

I would give A Secondhand Life an Adult rating. There are sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread A Secondhand Life. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Devil’s Honor (The Devil’s Keepers: Book 1) by Megan Crane

Devil's Honor: The Devil's Keepers by [Crane, Megan]

3 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept, Loveswept

Publication Date: November 1st, 2016

Genre: Romance

Series: The Devil Keeper’s

Devil’s Honor – Book 1

Devil’s Mark – Book 2

Devil’s Own – Book 3

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

In the start of a sizzling new series, bestselling author Megan Crane takes readers deep into bayou country, where the sultry swamp has nothing on the heat of Louisiana’s fiercest bikers: the Devil’s Keepers.
 
Merritt Broussard grew up knowing she had two choices if she stayed in Lagrange: run with the outlaws or get left in their dust. So she got the hell out, leaving behind a bad-boy biker and scorching memories of their summer fling. Now Merritt’s back, with trouble on her tail, and the sergeant-at-arms of the Devil’s Keepers is the one person she can still trust. But Greeley isn’t the boy she remembers. He’s harder now, more dangerous—and even more alluring.
 
Joseph “Greeley” Shaw loves two things: his bike and his club. At eighteen, he escaped a rough life, found the Devil’s Keepers on the wrong side of a bad weekend, and never looked back. Greeley swore to live and die by their code: Devil’s Keepers first, Devil’s Keepers forever. No one comes between him and his brothers—except for the tantalizing woman who touched his soul. Greeley’s the kind of man who honors his commitments . . . and Merritt is one promise he’s determined to keep.

My review:

Merritt Broussard had vowed that she would never return to Lagrange, La after finally escaping it when she was 18. She was briefly tempted when she was 22, about to go to law school, and came home on break. What, or should I say, who lured her? A biker named Greeley, who was a member of the Devil’s Keepers, the local biker club that ran Lagrange. She was hellbent on getting out of Lagrange and getting away from her swamp rat roots, and she left, breaking Greeley’s heart.

Five years later, and Merritt is returning to the one place she vowed she would never go back. Lagrange. She didn’t even return there when her father died, that’s how much she hated her hometown. The only reason she is returned is that she has an abusive ex-boyfriend and her hometown is the last place that he would look.

But Greeley is in Lagrange, and Merritt knew that it would be a matter of time before he showed up. The last time she saw him, he warned her about coming back.

Greeley is at the club’s clubhouse when another brother tells him that Merritt is back in Lagrange and staying at her father’s house. He leaves the clubhouse and has a confrontation with Merritt that almost ends with sex. Almost because right as he was sliding home, the phone rings, and he has to go back to the clubhouse.

Merritt and Greeley do hook up, and oh boy, is it hot. The pages burned when they had sex. And, of course, they do it bareback. If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know how I feel about that. Like I have said in previous blogs, I really should start a movement: Safe Sex For Fictional People (SSFFP)….lmao.

Anyways, back to the review.

The plotline with Merritt’s abusive boyfriend was anticlimactic. After what Merritt told her best friend, I thought that Antony would be more of a badass. Instead, when he did make an appearance, he came across as flat. I don’t know how to describe it. I was expecting Greeley to kill him and was a little put off that he got away with just a beating (hey, I’m bloodthirsty sometimes).

The end of the book was pretty good. All the storylines got wrapped up, and there is a HEA for Merritt and Greeley. I am pretty excited to read the other two books in this series once they come out, and I do hope that the author doesn’t stop with just 2. There are a few characters that I would like to read their stories.

I would give Devil’s Honor an Adult rating. There are sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Devil’s Honor. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Executor Rising (The Circuit: Book 1) by Rhett C. Bruno

The Circuit: Executor Rising by [Bruno, Rhett C.]

4 Stars

Publisher: Diversion Books

Date of publication: May 19th, 2015

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: The Circuit

Executor Rising – Book 1

Progeny of Vale – Book 2 (Review Here)

Earthfall – Book 3 (Review Here)

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis: 

Centuries after Earth was rendered an uninhabitable wasteland, humanity was forced from its homeworld and founded the Kepler Circuit, a string of colonies throughout the solar system. These settlements provide resources to the remnants of humankind, the most important resource being the newly discovered element—Gravitum—found only in the Earth’s unstable mantle.

But a powerful religious faction known as the New Earth Tribunal has risen to preside over most of the Circuit. Though there is barely a faction left to challenge them, a string of attacks on the Tribunal’s freighters causes them to suspect their mortal enemies, the Ceresians, of foul play.

Tasked with solving the problem is Sage Volus: Tribunal Executor. Spy.

Sage quickly infiltrates the ranks of a roguish, Ceresian mercenary named Talon Rayne, seeking to discover the truth behind the attacks, but the longer she works amidst Talon and his squad, the more she finds her faith in the Tribunal tested.

While her quest for answers only unearths more questions, a new threat is on the rise, and it plans to bring down the Tribune once and for all.

My review:

Cassius Vale is an ex-New Earth Tribunal looking for revenge on his former Tribunals. He blames them for his son’s death, 7 years before. Through his android, ADIM (an acronym for Automated Dynamic Intelligence Mech), he has been attacking the Tribunal’s freighters and stripping them of a newly discovered element called Gravitum. His grand scheme is to bring the New Earth Tribunal to its knees before destroying them.

Sage Volus is a New Earth Tribunal Executor and spy who is sent on a mission to infiltrate the Ceresians’, who are mortal enemies of the New Earth Tribunal. Her job has an Executor is basically to kill targets that the New Earth Tribunal has deemed dangerous to their cause and to their leadership. And right now, the Tribunal is looking at the Ceresians as that because of the attacks Cassius is doing on their freighters.

Talon Rayne is a Cersian miner who has caught the disease called Blue Death. This disease is a result of direct exposure to Gravitum and it cannot be cured. He was forced into hijacking a freighter after the head of the Clan arrested him after he killed a co-worker in an argument (granted the guy had it coming to him). Talon used to be an Enforcer for that Clan and because of that, the new head is willing to cut a deal. Talon hijacks a Tribunal freighter, gets the Gravitum and all is well. If he refuses, Talon has a daughter who is about 6 and, well, use your imagination as to what he threatened.

Sage and Talon’s storyline merges when she is sent to infiltrate the Ceresians and find out who is hijacking the ships. She forms a deep bond with him, to the point when they hijack a ship and get their butts kicked by the Tribunals, she saves his life. He is sent to a Keeper ship (called a Solar Ark) called the Amerigo, where he is to eventually die of the Blue Death.

This book is a fast read. I should have known that it would be because the author’s other books were also fast read.

The action in the books was out of this world. I loved that there were explosions and gunfights.

I also liked that there was a hint of romance between Sage and Talon but that it was left up in the air. It makes me wonder if they hook up in the other books?

The end of the book was a cliffhanger of sorts. I do not like cliffhangers but with this book, it worked perfectly. It makes you want to read the 2nd book to see what is going to happen.

I would give Executor Rising an Adult rating. There are sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Executor Rising. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Resurrection (The Chronicles Of The Dragonoid: Book 1) by Brian Rankin

Resurrection: Book One of Chronicles Of The Dragonoid by [Rankin, Brian]

5 Stars

Publisher: Page Publishing Inc

Date of Publication: December 7th, 2015

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Chronicles Of The Dragonoid

Resurrection – Book 1

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Since the sacrifice of their greatest hero centuries ago, Valat’s four nations have been at peace. Atticus and his friends worked hard to prepare to compete in the annual games that commemorated their ancient hero’s sacrifice. Their victories are soon forgotten when the games come under attack by the same ancient force that they fought so long ago. Atticus, his friends Ryder and Erin, and newcomer Syler are the only survivors of the brutal attack. They embark on a perilous journey to the Firelands to warn the Lords and raise their armies before it is too late. When Atticus is wounded from a weapon they had never seen before, true friendship is tested and Atticus must discover who he really is and find the key to resurrection before all is lost. Enter a world where elements can be controlled in the palm of your hand, where myths and legends become reality, and where good and evil control the fate of the entire world.

My review:

This book was a well-written fantasy. The world and character building were impressive. The author explains the history of Valat. He explains about the Elementalists who wield the powers of Water, Ice, and Fire. He explains how the nations of Fireland, Woodland, Wetlands, and Icelands were formed. He explains how the infighting decimated the nations until it was decreed that a tournament will be held and the best Elementalists of each land will be the Lords. He explains how that tournament brought about peace and unity and stopped the infighting. Then the Selsians, an empire from the East and who hated magic of any form, invaded Valat and started purging that country of the Elementalists. The Lords started fighting between themselves, leaving the people to be slaughtered. After the fighting stopped, they withdrew into the mountains to rebuild and plan on how to overcome the Selsians.

The war waged on for 3 years and hope was dwindling. Then, a miracle happened. An Elementalist with a power that was vast. He took over leading the people and he alone defeated the Selsian empire, bringing them to their knees and destroying them.

His name? Alcadias and he wielded a sword called Llachar. After the war entered he was given the title of Dragonoid. He eventually married, had a child and moved to a hidden village deep within Valat. His wife’s name was unknown but they had a child. Alcadias also did have an older child, who was called Aris.

His power became a burden and soon he began to fear and hate it. He, somehow, poured his power into the sword, separate it and sent it to 3 locations in Valat that were only known to him. After that, Aris and Alcadias disappeared into a golden light.

It ends up that the story is being read to a young boy called Atticus by his unnamed father. There is a lot of foreshadowing during young Atticus’s conversation with his father.

I love books that have so much backstory. It makes it so much more interesting to read when you know what comes before!!

The story starts 18 years later. Atticus is maybe 20 (I couldn’t exactly place his age) and he is in training to compete in the annual tournament. He is a Master Elementalist and a renowned swordsman. He is summoned to meet with his father, the Lord of the Firelands, Cedric. They discuss the tournament and Atticus takes his leave after an argument involving Lord Cedric’s desire for Atticus to marry. Of course, Atticus is like “No way” (as any normal 20-year-old would be) and it causes them to quarrel. On the way out, Atticus is met by his father’s best friend and advisor, Bacchus, who gives him a cryptic warning. That night, Atticus has a nightmare that seems almost prophetic.

The next day, he meets up with his best friend, Ryder and they head towards Champion Island, where the Tournament is held. The journey there is unremarkable but once they get there, someone seems to have it out for Atticus. He is roomed and then paired in battle with two Icelandic warriors. One he defeated and the other one he was in a battle with when the unthinkable happens, the Selsians attack.

The only ones who survive the massacre at Champion Island are Ryder, Atticus, Lady Erin and Sylor, the Icelandic warrior that Atticus was fighting when the Selsians attacked. Atticus is critically injured during that attack.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had everything. Intrigue, a possible romance (or two), tons of action and of course, fantasy. It is a long book, almost 600 pages, but it definitely doesn’t feel like you are reading a 600-page book.

Atticus and Ryder were definitely my favorite characters in the book. Atticus because he had such strong moral codes and it seemed like he could see beneath people (I am thinking of Sylor) and Ryder because he is so loyal. Plus, they are pretty awesome fighters too.

Erin, I didn’t care for. She absolutely rubbed me the wrong way from the time she was introduced to when she and Atticus were in the cave. After that, I started to develop some respect for her but we’ll see how she is in the second book.

Sylor was a mystery. His hatred of Atticus was unreal but Ryder put him in his place. When he finally did reveal some of his background, it was tragic and I got tears in my eyes reading it.

The end of the book was great and it is totally left open for a book 2.

I would give Resurrection an Older Teen rating. There are no sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would reread Resurrection. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Throne of Novoxos (Van Laven Chronicles: Book 1) by Tyler Chase

THRONE OF NOVOXOS: VAN LAVEN CHRONICLES (Book 1) by [Chase, Tyler]

4 Stars

Publisher: Tyler Chase

Date of publication: July 15th, 2014

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance

Series: Van Laven Chronicles

Throne of Novoxos – Book 1

Shadow Reign – Book 2

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

All she wanted was to save a life, even if he was her sworn enemy. She didn’t mean to make him fall in love. She didn’t mean to make him break his vow to his people. And sparking a war was the absolute last thing she ever wanted. But all this and more confronts Vaush as she embarks on an epic journey to restore order to the Empire and to take her rightful place with him by her side.

My review:

Another example of me judging a book by its cover/blurb. I really need to stop doing that because I always end up making a fool out of myself when writing the review.

This is a Romeo and Juliet type love story coupled with some good old-fashioned science fiction and fantasy elements mixed in. The only way that it differs from Romeo and Juliet is that Comron and Vaush do not die a star crossed lovers’ death. They come close a few times but they don’t die.

Comron and his father, Crausin, have one of the most complex and disgusting relationships that I have read. They are telepathic, which was fascinating. Especially something major was revealed to Vaush from Comron towards the end of the story. They didn’t use their telepathy to always talk to each other. Crausin used it to take over while Comron is having sex. So, a telepathic threesome. They also shared their women in the physical sense too.

Vaush is the youngest daughter of Larrs Bastionli, the Duke of Tir-Laros. She is also Comron and Crausin’s mortal enemy. Vaush is a woman who loves nothing more than to stay out of her father’s path and do what she loves, which is helping others less fortunate than her.

Vaush and Comron’s paths cross when the transport that she is on is attacked by a terrorist. A bomb explodes, causing the transport to crash. Vaush is largely uninjured but Comron is gravely injured. Vaush finds him in the wreckage, discovers who he is and decides to save him. Comron returns the favor after a panther attacks Vaush in the jungle.

While they are trekking towards the east coast, and hopefully rescue, Vaush and Comron fall in love and do the dirty. They vow to keep seeing each other, on the down-low, after they are rescued.

Once they are rescued, a huge secret about Vaush comes to light. She is the legal heir of the Emperor’s throne. The Emperor took her mother as his first wife, much to the dismay of his ex-wife and their children. When her mother got pregnant, she disappeared and was assumed to have died and her child along with her. Which wasn’t the case. Her transport was waylaid by Larrs Bastionli, her mother severely injured but kept alive to deliver Vaush and then were either killed or died after her birth. Larrs kept Vaush and raised her as his own child. But with the plan that when she old enough, that she will become the Empress and Tir-Laros will have the backing of the Empress.

Only, it didn’t quite turn out that way. There is murder and mayhem once her secret is leaked. The only true ally that Vaush has is Comron but even that is questioned when huge secrets from his past are revealed to her.

I never thought that I would ever say this in a science fiction/fantasy but the sex scenes are insanely good. Each sex scene was better than the next. I loved it!!

The ending of the book threw me for a loop and made me question Comron and his loyalty to Vaush. There were other instances that made me go “Eh” but when I read what I read at the end, I went “Ooooooo….no he didn’t!!” I am actually going to buy the 2nd book because I want to know what happens next.

I would give Throne of Novoxos an Adult rating. There are sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Throne of Novoxos. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

The Argent Star (The Monarchy: Book 1) by Emerson Fray

The Argent Star (The Monarchy Book 1) by [Fray, Emerson]

2 Stars

Publisher: D L Miles

Date of Publication: June 7th, 2015

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

The Argent Star – Book 1

The Howling Jade – Book 2

Where you can find this book: Amazon |Barnes & Noble

Book synopsis:

What happens when your decisions affect an entire universe?

Ren Argent wanted to be an archeologist and spend her life exploring the lost cities of Earth. But when a new planet is discovered and her father is appointed King, she has to leave behind everything she knows to rule over a place she’s only heard of in legends.

Not long after her arrival, she discovers there are insurgents hiding in the darkened forests and the planet is on the brink of civil war. It won’t be long until the Monarchy steps in to “neutralize” the threat.

Will she be able to stop the hostile takeover? Or will her actions ignite a rebellion across the universe?

My review:

I wanted to like this book. I mean, the storyline is great:

Girl goes to another plant and saves its inhabitants from an evil reign set on wiping them out.

Unfortunately, even a great storyline can’t help awful characters.

I could not stand Ren. She came across as whiny in some parts of the story and childish in other parts. Her relationship with her father was nonexistent because she was still carrying a grudge over something that happened over seven years earlier. The only person that actually likes her is her brother Elian, and she treated him like a child half the time. Two people call her out on her BS: Sheridan, her Sotarian bodyguard, and Abetha, her Guide (a servant). Those scenes I liked.

She did because almost bearable during the last half of the book but, she acted like a child and it drove me nuts. Definitely not my favorite character of all times.

The substory of the rebels was good and I enjoyed the twist that happened midway through the book. It changed my view of one character.

The ending was really good (and this is where Ren almost redeemed herself) and the substory lines were tied up in a very satisfactory way. But it ended in a cliffhanger, which again, drove me nuts. I can’t stand them.

There is a 2nd book in the series but I am not sure if I want to read it or not. Like I said above, Ren grated on my nerves and I couldn’t read another book with her in it.

I would give The Argent Star an Older Teen rating. There are no sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 10 read this book.

I would not reread The Argent Star. I would not recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Billionaire Stepbrother: Our Bad Romance (Young Adult Romance Book Series: Book 1) by K. Robinson

Billionaire Stepbrother: Our Bad Romance (Young Adult Romance Book Series 1) by [Robinson, K.]

2 Stars

Publisher: Love & Romance

Date of publication: October 25th, 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Romance

Series: Young Adult Romance Book Series

Billionaire Stepbrother: Our Bad Romance – Book 1

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Seth McGregory is not your average badass biker guy. Yeah, he may love beer and cigarettes, bars, motorcycles, and heavy rock but there’s something more than what meets the eye. He found himself madly in love with his step-sister, Caroline. This is obviously not right but he thinks there’s nothing wrong with falling in love with someone that doesn’t share your bloodline.

At first, Caroline was skeptical when she found out about his love but soon enough, she finds herself falling for him too. This creates huge dilemmas and sacrifices between them, along with the disapproval from their parents when they find out.

Seth will do about anything to make sure he can have Caroline to himself without a worry. The question is, how will he be able to convince their parents and make them approve of their twisted, sick relationship?

My review:

Seth McGregory is a billionaire that comes from a family of billionaires (if that makes sense). In the first scene, he is buying his stepsister, Caroline, a ruby-encrusted infinity symbol for her birthday that costs over $9,000…..which he has the cash for.

Seth is in a bit of a dilemma. He has strong feelings for Caroline but hasn’t acted on them because A) he isn’t sure she has the same feelings and B) his parents would freak out. But he has decided that he can’t keep his feelings to himself any longer. So he shows up at her house (because every 19-year-old has their own home) to give her his gift, and he confesses his attraction to her. At first, she is pretty grossed out and throws him out. But after a couple of days of thinking about it, she calls him and asks him to come back to her house and confesses her attraction to him. Use your imagination as to what happened next.

After two months of basically sneaking around, they decide to come clean to their parents. Their reactions were what I expected.

This is the first stepbrother romance that I have reviewed (I have read longer books), and I have to say that I am on the fence about it. Seth and Caroline lacked “ummph,” and there was no explosive sexual attraction between them. There was no heat in the sex scenes either.

The only real thing in the book was their parent’s reaction, at first. Dad was the most ticked off. But then they did a turnaround and said that they knew that they were dating and keeping it under wraps because people will judge.

I would give Billionaire Stepbrother: Our Bad Romance an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is explicit language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would not reread  Billionaire Stepbrother: Our Bad Romance. I would not recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Pull Me Close (The Panic Series: Book 1) by Sidney Halston

Pull Me Close: The Panic Series by [Halston, Sidney]

5 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept, Loveswept

Date of publication: October 25th, 2016

Genre: Romance

Series: The Panic Series

Pull Me Close – Book 1

Where you can find this book: Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis:

Welcome to Panic, a sultry Miami nightclub where bodies and hearts move to a beat that doesn’t stop at sunrise—the setting for “a magnificent story full of deep emotion” (Sawyer Bennett).

Katherine: I thought I could enjoy a night out like a normal person. I thought I could handle the flashing lights, the pulsing music, the crowded dance floor. I couldn’t have been more wrong. After having an anxiety attack and passing out during my sister’s engagement party at Panic, I wake up in the arms of the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. Nick Moreno’s no gentleman. But he might just be the man I need to help me take control of my life.

Nick: When I hear there’s some random girl passed out in the back room of my family’s South Beach nightclub, I’m pissed. My dad’s already behind bars and we can’t afford any more bad press. But after giving her a lift—literally—back to her apartment, I stop seeing Katherine Wilson as some random girl. She’s gorgeous, vulnerable, and braver than she knows. And when we kiss, all I want to do is pull her close and promise that she’ll always be safe in my arms.

No cheating. No cliffhangers. And no dress code.

My review:

Katherine thought she could attend her sister’s bachelorette without having a major panic attack. See, Katherine hadn’t been outside of her apartment in well over a year but forced herself to go because her sister wanted her to. Saying that her attempt to go out of her apartment ended badly was an understatement. She passed out in front of Mat, Nick’s twin brother and co-owner of Panic….the nightclub she was at.

Nick was an idiot (to keep it PC) and was beyond stressed out when Katherine was brought to him. He had taken over his father’s nightclub after his father was arrested and put in jail. He is stressed because he is trying to keep the club on the straight and narrow (which was the opposite his father had done). He is also a bit jaded when it comes to women. His ex-girlfriend (who thankfully didn’t make an appearance at all) was caught naked in the VIP section by Nick with his former best friend. She was also doing lines of meth off of his man bits. Oh, the mental image that went with that….lol. So, it was safe to say that when Katherine was brought to him, unconscious, he wasn’t happy and assumed that she was a junkie.

He does make the effort to believe her and even started to get to know her. But, one day he showed up at her apartment and she was acting like she was high. He ripped her a new one and took off. Meanwhile, as he is telling her off, she is trying to tell Nick that she’s having a reaction to the new medications she is on. Nick acting the way he acted was a catalyst of sorts for Katherine. She started to get the help she needed and she was able to go to Nick’s club to explain that she has PTSD, agoraphobic and has an anxiety disorder and that she had a reaction to her medications the last time she saw him.

From then on, Nick didn’t leave Katherine’s side. He read up on PTSD and worked with her on getting better. Those scenes were so sweet because you could tell that he wasn’t a bad guy. The more he hung around Katherine, the sweeter he got. It got me right in the feels.

Even better, the author held off on them having sex. But when they did…omg good was it good. Better than good, it was fantastic. They even had protected sex (gasp) which doesn’t happen in many of the books I have read lately (and if you have read my blog, you know how I feel about that….lmao).

The end of the book was beyond fantastic. I hope to read the 2nd book because I have a feeling that Mat’s story will be next and I would love to see what will happen with him.

I also want to add that the author’s note at the end of the book brought me to tears.

I would give Pull Me Close an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Pull Me Close. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Wind River Wrangler (Wind River Valley: Book 1) by Lindsay McKenna

Wind River Wrangler (Wind River Series Book 1) by [McKenna, Lindsay]

4 Stars

Publisher: Kensington Books, Zebra

Date of publication: October 25th, 2016

Genre: Romance

Series: Wind River Valley

Wind River Wrangler – Book 1

Wind River Rancher – Book 2

Wind River Cowboy – Book 3

Where you can find this book: Amazon |Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis:

Still waters run deep . . .

From the moment Roan Taggart picked up the pretty redhead at the Jackson Hole airport, his training and experience told him she was spooked. She’s left New York City to visit the Wind River Ranch, where Roan is a wrangler, and just as he can pick up a horse’s mood, he can feel the tension coming off her body. And that vulnerability is triggering all his protective instincts. . .

Shiloh Gallagher likes the gray-eyed cowboy’s dry humor—and the Special Forces background that lends him a stoic, powerful presence. But she’s been scarred by trauma and her mother’s murder . . . and knows a strong man can be dangerous. She came to wide-open Wyoming to flee a threat that’s left her unable to write her novels. Now, as she rides horses with Roan and helps him build an isolated cabin, she’s slowly letting down her guard. But danger has followed her west, and they won’t have a future together unless they defeat a killer from her past. . .

My review:

I am guilty of yet again judging a book by its cover. I went into reading this book thinking that it would be one of those slam, bam, thank you ma’am romance novel. Instead, what I read was something that kept me glued to this book.

Shiloh Gallagher is a successful romance author who is stressed beyond her limits. She is being stalked and her breaking point came when her stalker started to turn her doorknob on her apartment….even though it was locked. At the end of her rope, and with no help from the police or the FBI, she called her mother’s best friend Maud Whitcomb and asked if she could seek shelter at her ranch. Of course, Maud says yes and Shiloh heads out to Wyoming and the Wind River Ranch.

Roan is an ex-Army Special Forces operator who had come to work at the Wind River Ranch 2 years previously….after leaving the Army. He is told about Shiloh from Maud. See, Shiloh has undergone a lot of trauma in her life. Her father died when she was 7 and 3  years later, her mother was murdered, in front of Shiloh, by her stepfather. The reason why Maud was telling him this….well Shiloh would be bunking with him in the Employee’s only house for the duration of her stay.

When Roan meets Shiloh at the airport, sparks flew and of course, Shiloh tries to ignore them. As they get to know each other, Shiloh’s trust in Roan grows and she tells him the one horrible thing that she had only told the police about her mother’s murderer and her stepfather, Anton Leath. Not going to tell you what but oh my, did my heart-break for her. Because after she told her mother what she told Roan, her mother was murdered in front of her.

Now, I did figure out who the stalker on was pretty early on in the book. There were enough hints that it was pretty easy to figure out. Not that it took away from the book because when the stalker does show up in Wyoming and the events that unfolded, it was pretty surprising.

The sex scenes between Roan and Shiloh were hot, hot, hot. But, unfortunately, the author had to go down the “Hey, no protection…so are you clean because I am and let’s have unprotected sex route”. Which, if you have been following my blog for any length of time, I don’t like….lol. As I have said before and will say now, I am going to start a movement: Bloggers for Safe Sex of Fictional Characters (or BSSFC for short and OMG, I am killing myself here….lol)

The ending was pretty typical and all the storylines were wrapped up in satisfactory ways. I do wish that there was an epilogue (never thought I would say that) so we could peek in on Shiloh and Roan but seeing that there are two other books in the series, I am going to pray that they make an appearance.

I would give Wind River Wrangler an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Wind River Wrangler. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**